Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to the prior art by inclusion in this section.
Different types of band saws are suited for different types of tasks. This is due in part to the angle of the blade with respect to the tangential wheel contact plane. The angle of the blade controls the direction of movement of a workpiece with respect to the frame of the band saw. Existing vertical band saws, designed for rip cutting and contour cutting, feature a blade angle of 0° relative to the tangential wheel contact plane. Hand held portable band saws, designed for cross cutting pipe and bar, feature a 45° blade angle relative to the tangential wheel contact plane. Horizontal band saws feature either a 0° blade angle for saw mill rip cuts, or u p to a 90° blade angle and a pivot for cross cutting.
On one hand, the capacity to perform cross cuts on a vertical band saw with a blade angle of 0° is very limited. On the other hand, the capacity to perform rip cuts on a band saw having a blade angle of 45° or 90° is al so very limited. What is needed is a tool with variable blade angle which can satisfy both high capacity rip cutting and cross cutting needs, and that can be switched between blade angles in a simple and efficient manner while taking into account changes in blade tension due to blade twist.